Paint roller and frame

ABSTRACT

A paint roller assembly for supporting a replaceable paint roller cover consisting of a hand-held frame adapted to rotatably carry a unitary support member constructed of a moldable plastic material. The support member has a central body portion and a plurality of elongated radially extending rib members, at least one of which is provided with radially yieldable protrusions on its outer margin adapted to frictionally engage the replaceable cover and hold it in place on the paint roller assembly.

United States Patent 1191 Ashton 1 1 PAINT ROLLER AND FRAME [75] Inventor: George Ashton, Studio City, Calif.

[73] Assignee: IdealBrushes,Inc.,North Holly- 15/230.11, 230.16, 248 A; 24/213 R; 51/332, 372, 374; 242/46.6, 71.9, 72; 29/116 R,

[ Nov. 27, 1973 IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Spooling Adapter, Vol. 8, No. 8, Jan. 1966-p. 1124 Primary ExaminerDaniel Blum Att0rneyR. Welton Whann et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A paint roller assembly for supporting a replaceable paint roller cover consisting of a hand-held frame adapted to rotatably carry a unitary support member 1105, 129 constructed of a moldable plastic material. The support member has a central body portion and a plural- [56] Ref re e Cit d ity of elongatedradially extending rib members, at UNITED STATES PATENTS least one of which is provided with radially yieldable protrusions on its outer margin adapted to frictionally engage the replaceable cover and hold it in place on 3,119,137 1/1964 Schueler... 1s 230.11 the roller assembly' 3,638,271 2/1972 Pharris 15/230.11 3 Chims 5 Drawing Figures 2,548,166 4/1951 Larson... 51/374 3,620,468 11/1971 Amour 242/46.6 X 3,272,447 9/1966 Ewing et al. 242/46.6 X

3&6 Z6 Q ,1 K v I k I I d 1""!i' 111 l5 PAINT ROLLER AND FRAME BACKGROUND OF THE. INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to paint rollers of the type used tp paint flat surfaces by transferring paint from a paint saturated roller cover to the flat surface by rolling the paint roller over the surface. More particularly, this invention relates to a novel paint roller assembly for supporting the replaceable paint roller covers.

2. Description of the Prior Art With the development of a wide variety of new and relatively inexpensive latex base and similar type paints, the use of paint rollers for both home and professional painting has become quite popular. Typically, the basic paint roller assembly consists of a hand-held frame which rotatably supports a cage-like structure adapted to support the replaceable paint roller cover. The roller cover is usually constructed by covering a tubular core member with an absorbent cloth-like material which absorbs the paint and then transfers it to the surface to be painted as the roller is rotated or rolled over the surface. I To allow easy cleaning and replacement of the paint roller cover, it is desirable to construct the paint roller assembly so that the cover can be quickly and conveniently removed from the supporting cage. Inorder to insure easy removability of the paint roller cover, many prior-art devices make use of supporting cages which are generally of relatively complicated construction, typically being made up of numerous separate component parts. For example, the supporting cage is frequently constructed using a plurality of longitudinally extending yieldable wire strut members affixed at their opposite ends to end plates carried by a centrally disposed tubular structure which rotatably receives the hand-held roller frame. These strut members are normally bowed slightly outwardly so as to frictionally engage the coverelement when it is positioned over the supporting cage. Devices of this type are of necessity expensive to make and assemble. Additionally, the supporting cage can be easily damaged and rendered unusable, requiring disposal of the entire paint roller assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an important object of my invention to avoid the drawbacks of prior art devices as previously described by providing a paint roller assembly for supporting a replaceable paint roller cover which is made up of a minimum number of component parts, is easy to fabricate and assemble and is extremely durable.

It is another object of my invention to provide a paint roller assembly in which the paint roller cover support member, which is rotatably carried by a hand-held frame portion, is constructed from a durable, yieldable material such as a moldable plastic and includes a central body portion having a plurality of integral radially extending elongated ribs, at least one of which has radially yieldable marginal protrusions adapted to frictionally engage the replaceable paint roller cover.

It is stil another object of my invention to provide a paint roller assembly of the type described in the previous paragraphs in which the paint roller cover support member comprises a unitary body which can be quickly and easily rotatably interlocked with the hand-held frame portion.

It is another object of my invention to provide a paint roller of the classdescribed in which the radially outwardly extending ribs of the paint roller cover support member are specially constructed to include longitudinally extending slots disposed adjacent the marginal protrusions and adapted to cooperate therewith to optimize the degree-of deflection of the ribs as the roller cover is positioned over the support member.

It is another object of my invention to provide, as an article of manufacture, a paint roller cover support member for use with a hand-held paint roller frame comprising a central body and a plurality of elongated ribs extending radially from the central body, at least one of which is provided with gripping means for gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in position on the cover support member.

In summary, the paint roller assembly of my invention consists of a frame adapted to rotatably carry a paint roller cover support member comprising a central body and a plurality of elongated ribs extending outwardly from the central body, at least'one of which is provided with gripping means for gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in position on the cover support member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ber.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 v of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the paint roller cover support member of my invention illustrating the way in which the paint roller cover is held in position on the support member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the construction of the gripping means of my invention in its relaxed state for gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in position on the support member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 of" the drawings, the paint roller assembly of my invention is shown to comprise a handheld frame member 12 and a paint roller cover support member 14. Frame 12 rotatably carries cover support member 14 and comprises a handle portion 16 and an integral, laterally extending axle portion 18 adapted to be received in a central bore 19 which extends the entire length of cover support member 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, axle 18 is closely received within bore 19 and when fully inserted therein protrudes slightly into an enlarged diameter portion 19a formed at the outboard extremity of bore 19. Retaining means for rotatably interconnecting the support member and the frame is provided in the form of a cup-shaped retainer washer 20 which has a plurality of teeth-like protrusions on its inner periphery adapted to frictionally grip the outboard end of the axle. As can be seen in FIG. 2, washer 20 is of a diameter so as to seat against the shoulder 22 formed at the interface between bore 19 and enlarged diameter bore 19a. When in place,

therefore, the washer is held captive within bore 19a and serves to prevent withdrawal ofthe axle from bore 19 of support member 14. After washer 20 has been affixed to the axle, a circular-shaped cap 24 is inserted into the open end of bore 19a. Cap 24 serves to seal bores 19 and 19a against the entry of dirt, paint or other foreign materials which might interfere with the free rotation of support member 14 on axle 18.

In various of the views shown in the drawings a replaceable paint roller cover 26 of a type commonly available for use with paint roller assemblies of standard construction is shown in operative position over the cover support member. Typically, these commercially available paint roller covers are constructed of an absorbent cloth-like material which is affixed to a rigid cylindrically shaped central core, indicated in the drawings by the numeral 27.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, paint roller cover support member 14 comprises a generally cylindrically shaped central body 30; enlarged diameter, generally circular-shaped inner and outer end plates 32 and 33 located near the ends of central body 30; and a plurality of elongated rib or web-like members 34 interconnecting the end plates and extending radially outwardly from the central body. The cover support member may be constructed of any suitable durable and flexible material including various types of metals, plastics, fiber composites and the like. For ease of manufacture of the cover support member, however, I prefer to use a flexible, light weight but durable moldable plastic material which can be expeditiously molded, in a manner well known in the art, into the finished configuration, as illustrated in the drawings.

An important feature of my invention is the novel gripping means which is provided for releasably gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in a fixed position on the cover support member. In the form of my invention as shown in the drawings, the gripping means is shown as comprising radially yieldable protrusions 36 formed on the outer marginal portion of at leat one of the outwardly extending ribs 14. As can best be seen in FIG. 5, protrusions 36 are located immediately adjacent elongated slot-like apertures 38 formed in the rib members 34. Apertures 38 cooperate with protrusions 36 to allow inward deformation of the protrusions when the paint roller cover 26 is placed over the support member in the manner presently to be described.

While, if desired, the rib portions can be formed with several protrusions and cooperating apertures, I have found that, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, two longitudinally spaced protrusions and cooperating apertures formed on each of any two diametrically opposed rib members serve quite satisfactorily to grip the paint roller cover and hold it securely in position on the support member.

The manner in which the gripping means functions to grip the paint roller cover is best illustrated in FIG. 4. As depicted in this figure, the paint roller cover support member 14 is constructed so that in its normal state its outside diameter as measured in the region of protrusions 36 is slightly larger than the inside diameter of the cylindrically shaped inner core element 27 of the replaceable paint roller cover 26. The outside diameter of the support member at points other than the areas of protrusion, however, is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the core element. To position the replaceable paint roller cover over cover support member 14, the left end of the support member as viewed in FIG. 1 is first inserted into the central core element 27 of the cover 26. Because the outside diameter of the support member is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the core element, the cover can be moved freely to the right until a point is reached at which the leading edge of the core element engages the protrusions designated as 36a in FIG. 1. At this point since, as shown in FIG. 5, the edges of the protrusions are rounded, an exertion of additional forces tending to move the cover further to the right will cause the protrusions to be forced inwardly by the leading edge of the core element of the paint cover. Continued pressure tending to move the cover to the right will cause the protrusions to assume the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown in this figure, due to the forces exerted by the smaller diameter core element of the cover, the protrusions will be yieldably deformed inwardly into the space defined by apertures 38. By carefully controlling the size of apertures 38 and their proximity to the outer edges of rib members 34, protrusions 36 can be yieldably deformed with a minimum of effort so as to easily and smoothly accommodate emplacement of the paint roller cover over the support member. Because the support member is constructed of a yieldable resilient material which springs back to its original shape, however, the inwardly deformed protrusions will continuously tend to return to their normally outwardly extended orientation, and in so doing will engage the inner surfaces of the core element of the paint roller cover with sufficient force to hold the cover securely in place on the support member. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, end plate 32 has an outside diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the core element 27 so that when the paint roller cover support member is fully received within the core element, end plate 32 serves as a stop means to correctly locate the cover longitudinally of the support member.

In using the paint roller assembly of my invention, the paint roller cover 26 can be easily replaced or removed for cleaning numerous times without in any way damaging the support member 14. In the eventuality that the support member should be damaged in some way, however, it can be broken away from the frame and a new support member easily affixed thereto in the manner previously described.

I claim:

1. A paint roller assembly for supporting a replaceable paint roller cover including a frame and a paint roller cover support member rotatably carried by said frame, said cover support member comprising:

a. an elongated central body having a longitudinally extending bore therethrough;

b. a plurality of radially outwardly protruding ribs integral with said body and extending longitudinally thereof substantially along the entire length of said body, at least two of said ribs being disposed in a diametrically opposed coplanar relationship and each having at least two longitudinally extending slots disposed therein adjacent the outer margins of the two said ribs;

gripping means for releasably gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in a fixed position on said cover support member, said gripping means comprising at least two protrusions formed on the outer marginal portions of each of the two said diametrically opposed ribs having longitudinally exroller support member and said frame.

3. A paint roller assembly as defined in claim 1 including stop means for locating the paint roller cover longitudinally of said cover support member, said stop means comprising an end plate disposed at one extremity of the support member, said end plate interconnecting said central body and said ribs and including a rim portion extending radially outwardly beyond said ribs. 

1. A paint roller assembly for supporting a replaceable paint roller cover including a frame and a paint roller cover support member rotatably carried by said frame, said cover support member comprising: a. an elongated central body having a longitudinally extending bore therethrough; b. a plurality of radially outwardly protruding ribs integral with said body and extending longitudinally thereof substantially along the entire length of said body, at least two of said ribs being disposed in a diametrically opposed coplanar relationship and each having at least two longitudinally extending slots disposed therein adjacent the outer margins of the two said ribs; c. gripping means for releasably gripping the paint roller cover so as to hold it in a fixed position on said cover support member, said gripping means comprising at least two protrusions formed on the outer marginal portions of each of the two said diametrically opposed ribs having longitudinally extending slots therein, said protrusions being disposed adjacent the slots in the two said diametrically opposed ribs and being so constructed and arranged as to be resiliently deformed radially inwardly toward the slots when the paint roller cover is positioned over said ribs.
 2. A paint roller assembly as defined in claim 1 in which said central body is provided with a radially enlarged portion near one extremity adapted to house retaining means for rotatably interconnecting said paint roller support member and said frame.
 3. A paint roller assembly as defined in claim 1 including stop means for locating the paint roller cover longitudinally of said cover support member, said stop means comprising an end plate disposed at one extremity of the support member, said end plate interconnecting said central body and said ribs and including a rim portion extending radially outwardly beyond said ribs. 